Although not many recorded teachings of Ajahn Mun have been preserved, there are some clear indications that he was influenced by the Yogavacara tradition as well as the textbooks of reformed (Dhammayut) Buddhism. According to the Saddavimala text preserved in Lao and northern Thai (Lanna) dialect, a yogavacara student should memorize the stages of embryonic development with their alphabetic equivalents, because the esoteric meanings of Pali alphabet and grammatical operations provides a path to liberation. Compare these passages from "Muttodaya - A Heart Released" by Ajahn Mun:

§3. The root inheritance, the starting capital for self-training.

Why is it that wise people — before chanting, receiving the precepts, or performing any other act of merit — always take up namo as their starting point? Why is it that namo is never omitted or discarded? This suggests that namo must be significant. If we take it up for consideration, we find that na stands for the water element, and mo for the earth element — and with this, a line from the scriptures comes to mind:

mata-petika-sambhavo odana-kummasa-paccayo:

'When the generative elements of the mother and father are combined, the body comes into being. When it is born from the mother's womb, it is nourished with rice and bread, and so is able to develop and grow.' Na is the mother's element; mo, the father's element. When these two elements are combined, the mother's fire element then heats the combination until it becomes what is called a kalala, a droplet of oil. This is the point where the connecting cognizance (patisandhi-viññana) can make its connection, so that the mind becomes joined to the namo element. Once the mind has taken up residence, the droplet of oil develops until it is an ambuja, a glob of blood. From a glob of blood it becomes a ghana, a rod, and then a pesi, a piece of flesh. Then it expands itself into a lizard-like shape, with five extensions: two arms, two legs, and a head.

(As for the elements ba, breath, and dha, fire, these take up residence later, because they are not what the mind holds onto. If the mind lets the droplet of oil drop, the droplet of oil vanishes or is discarded as useless. It has no breath or fire, just as when a person dies and the breath and fire vanish from the body. This is why we say they are secondary elements. The important factors are the two original elements, namo.)

After the child is born, it has to depend on na, its mother, and mo, its father, to care for it, nurturing it and nourishing it with such foods as rice and bread, at the same time teaching and training it in every form of goodness. The mother and father are thus called the child's first and foremost teachers. The love and benevolence the mother and father feel for their children cannot be measured or calculated. The legacy they give us — this body — is our primal inheritance. External wealth, silver or gold, come from this body. If we didn't have this body, we wouldn't be able to do anything, which means that we wouldn't have anything at all. For this reason, our body is the root of our entire inheritance from our mother and father, which is why we say that the good they have done us cannot be measured or calculated. Wise people thus never neglect or forget them.

We first have to take up this body, this namo, and only then do we perform the act of bowing it down in homage. To translate namo as homage is to translate only the act, not the source of the act.

This same root inheritance is the starting capital we use in training ourselves, so we needn't feel lacking or poor when it comes to the resources needed for the practice.§4. The root foundation for the practice.

The two elements, namo, when mentioned by themselves, aren't adequate or complete. We have to rearrange the vowels and consonants as follows: Take the a from the n, and give it to the m; take the o from the m and give it to the n, and then put the ma in front of the no. This gives us mano, the heart. Now we have the body together with the heart, and this is enough to be used as the root foundation for the practice. Mano, the heart, is primal, the great foundation. Everything we do or say comes from the heart, as stated in the Buddha's words:

mano-pubbangama dhammamano-settha mano-maya:

'All dhammas are preceded by the heart, dominated by the heart, made from the heart.' The Buddha formulated the entire Dhamma and Vinaya from out of this great foundation, the heart. So when his disciples contemplate in accordance with the Dhamma and Vinaya until namo is perfectly clear, then mano lies at the end point of formulation. In other words, it lies beyond all formulations.

All supposings come from the heart. Each of us has his or her own load, which we carry as supposings and formulations in line with the currents of the flood (ogha), to the point where they give rise to unawareness (avijja), the factor that creates states of becoming and birth, all from our not being wise to these things, from our deludedly holding them all to be 'me' or 'mine'.

§12. The Mulatika Discourse.

Tika means three. Mula means root. Together they mean 'things that are roots in sets of three.' Passion, aversion, and delusion are three, termed the roots of what is unwise. Craving comes in threes: sensual craving, craving for becoming, and craving for no becoming. The floods and effluents (asava) of the mind each come in threes: sensuality, states of becoming, and unawareness. If a person falls in with these sorts of threes, then,

tiparivattam:

He or she will have to keep spinning around in threes, and so the three realms — the realms of sensuality, form, and formlessness — will have to continue as they are, for these threes are the roots of the three realms.

The remedy also comes in threes: virtue, concentration, and discernment. When people practice in line with the virtue, concentration, and discernment forming the cure, then,

na tiparivattam:

They won't have to keep spinning in threes. The three realms won't exist. In other words, they will gain utter release from the three realms.

§15. The nine abodes of living beings.

The realms of the heavenly beings, the human realm, and the realms of destitution (apaya) are classed as the sensual realm, the abode of living beings who indulge in sensuality. Taken together, they count as one. The realms of form, the abodes of living beings who have attained rupa jhana, are four. The realms of formlessness, the abodes of living beings who have attained arupa jhana, are also four. So altogether there are nine abodes for living beings. Those — the arahants — who are wise to the nine abodes leave them and don't have to live in any of them. This appears in the last of the Novice's Questions (samanera-panha), 'dasa nama kim' — What is ten? — which is answered. 'dasahangehi samaññagato arahati vuccati ti' — The arahant, one who is endowed with ten qualities, gains release from the nine abodes of living beings. This can be compared to writing the numerals 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. 1 to 9 are numbers that can be counted, named, added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided. As for ten — 1 and 0 (zero) — when we erase the 1, because it's a repetition, we are left with 0 (zero). If we use 0 to add, subtract, multiply, or divide with any other number, it won't increase the value of that number; and 0 by itself has no value at all — but you can't say that it doesn't exist, because there it is. The same is true with the heart: It's a nature whose attributes are like 0. When 0 is connected to any other number, it greatly increases the value of that number. For instance, 1 connected with 0 becomes 10. So it is with the heart. When connected with anything, it instantly proliferates into things elaborate and fantastic. But when trained until it is wise and discerning with regard to all knowable phenomena, it returns to its state as 0 (zero) — empty, open, and clear, beyond all counting and naming. It doesn't stay in the nine places that are abodes for living beings. Instead, it stays in a place devoid of supposing and formulation: its inherent nature as 0 (zero), or activityless-ness, as mentioned in § 14.

Ven. Thanissaro in his introduction offers this explanation, but it would seem more obvious to look into the pre-existing yogavacara tradition that Ajahn Mun would have been familiar with:

The unusual style of Phra Ajaan Mun's sermons may be explained in part by the fact that in the days before his ordination he was skilled in a popular form of informal village entertainment called maw lam. Maw lam is a contest in extemporaneous rhyming, usually reproducing the war between the sexes, in which the battle of wits can become quite fierce. Much use is made of word play: riddles, puns, innuendoes, metaphors, and simple playing with the sounds of words. The sense of language that Ajaan Mun developed in maw lam he carried over into his teachings after becoming a monk. Often he would teach his students in extemporaneous puns and rhymes. This sort of word play he even applied to the Pali language, and a number of instances can be cited in Muttodaya: in § 3, the pun on the word dhatu, which can mean both physical element and speech element (phoneme); the use of the phonemes na mo ba dha (the basic elements in the phrase namo buddhaya, homage to the Buddha) to stand for the four physical elements; the play on namo and mano in § 4; the use of the Patthana as an image for the mind in § 5; the extraction of the word santo (peaceful) from pavessanto in § 13 and § 16; the grammatical pun on loke in § 14 and santo in § 13; the threes in § 12; the eights in § 16; and so on.

In the esoteric yogavacara approach, certain traditional Pali phrases are interpreted differently, for example in the Dhammakaya method:

7.1 Mindfulness of the Body in the Body

Mindfulness of the body means being able to see and consider one's inner bodies continuously - to see the various inner bodies that are nested in inner dimensions of our physical human body, all the way from our subtle human body (also called the 'astral body' or 'dream body') all the way up to the various bodies of enlightenment.

The meditator can see and consider bodies within the body by settling their attention to the centre of the body (the seventh base of the mind). When the mind is firmly settled and is properly adjusted (brought to a standstill) a bright sphere will arise at the centre of the body. This sphere is known as the Pa.thama Magga Sphere [Dhammaanupassanaa-satipa.t.thaana Sphere]. Bringing your attention at the point at the centre of the sphere, it will enlarge until it is so large that its edges disappear over the horizon. A new sphere brighter and clearer than the last will appear at the centre which is called the sphere of self-discipline. In the same way, the sphere of concentration, the sphere of wisdom, the sphere of liberation, the sphere of knowledge and vision of liberation can be attained in sequence. If one stops one's mind at the point at the centre of the sphere, it will enlarge until it is so large that its edges disappear over the horizon allowing one to see the subtle human body inside - an inner body that looks the same as the physical body, but more radiant. On attaining the subtle human body, the realization will arise in the mind that "There is more to life than just the physical body. The physical body is just the outermost layer," and "life doesn't finish at the grave because there is still life inside, independent of the physical body." The outer body will suddenly seem like no more than a house where one resides temporarily. Once one has seen the physical body (for the first time) according to its reality, one will be able to 'let go' of it - allowing the mind to go deeper and become unified with the subtle material body. One will have no more feeling of sentimentality for the physical body nor any of the other things associated with it such as children, husband, wife or wealth. As the majority of sorts of suffering concerns material things, having attained the subtle human body, the mind, being unified with the subtle human body, is safely withdrawn beyond the reach of that suffering.

The reason why most people get upset about things is because they have not yet managed to attain the subtle human body - and consequently are still attached to their body and their possessions. Even though they might try to rationalize intellectually according to the teaching of the Buddha and try to convince themselves that "All things are of a nature of impermanence, suffering and not-self - they arise, exist for a time and then decay," however, it is no more than a conceptualization. Such a thought might seem to console one for a while, but it doesn't make the suffering go away. Such thinking might even increase one's suffering because it will only increase one's disappointment that one can't manage to make the suffering go away. It cannot remove the source of the suffering at its roots by the method of transcending [samuccheda-virati]. This is the reason why the Lord Buddha taught us to practice by meditating to the point where we can see and consider the bodies within the body.

Once one has attained the subtle human body, having significantly reduced one's suffering by loosening the fetters of 'clinging' [upaadaana], there will be a feeling of refreshedness, joy and happiness which arises from within the mind - giving the meditator the inspiration they need for the mind to enter yet deeper on the central axis - and the deeper the meditator can go, the stronger will be the feeling of such inner happiness.

The nature of all the inner bodies is to have their centres all aligned with the centre of the physical body (seventh base of the mind). Thus, simply by settling the mind further at the centre of the body, in the same way as described earlier, in entering the centre of the Pa.thama Magga Sphere, successive inner bodies can be attained, going further inside the subtle human body - the angelic body, the subtle angelic body, the form-Brahmaa body, the subtle form-Brahmaa body, the formless Brahmaa-body, the subtle formless Brahmaa-body and eventually the body of enlightenment [Dhammakaaya] - each with their own life and mind.

...

The most important thing beneath the whole issue of inner bodies is the subject of wisdom, concerning which Luang Phaw Wat Paknam taught:

"If you are able to attain the body of enlightenment (Dhammakaaya) you will find that it is many tens of times wiser than our human physical body. If you attain the subtle human body it is already twice as wise. Attaining the Angelic Body, it is twice as wise again. Attaining the Subtle Angelic Body, it is three times wiser. Attaining the Form-Brahmaa Body, it is four times wiser. Attaining the subtle Form-Brahmaa Body, it is five times wiser. Attaining the Formless-Brahmaa Body, it is six times wiser. Attaining the subtle Formless-Brahmaa Body, it is seven times wiser. Attaining the Body of Enlightenment and Subtle Body of Enlightenment, they are eight and nine times wiser respectively. This is the nature of their successive wisdom - you should familiarize yourself with their relative wisdoms."

Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo, a student of Ajahn Mun who wandered on tudong all over Thailand and also into Cambodia, has written many books representing the standard canonical teachings in the Tipitaka, fleshed out with his own instructions on meditation practice. But the Divine Mantra is obviously a tantric yogavacara text (apparently of Cambodian origin, called Mahadibbamanta) which he introduces with his own words:

I have written this book, The Divine Mantra, as a means of drawing to purity those who practice the Dhamma, because the chant given here brings benefits to those who memorize and recite it, inasmuch as it deals directly with matters that exist in each of us. Normally, once we are born, we all dwell in the six elements. These elements are brought together by our own actions, both good and evil. This being the case, these elements can give a great deal of trouble to those who dwell in them, like a child who can be a constant nuisance to its parents. Repeating this chant, then, is like nourishing and training a child to be healthy and mature; when the child is healthy and mature, its parents can rest and relax. Repeating this chant is like feeding a child and lulling it to sleep with a beautiful song: the Buddhaguna, the recitation of the Buddha's virtues.

The power of the Buddhaguna can exert influence on the elements in each individual, purifying them and investing them with power (kaya-siddhi), just as all material elements exert gravitational pull on one another every second. Or you might make a comparison with an electric wire: This chant is like an electric current, extending to wherever you direct it. It can even improve the environment, because it also includes the chant of the Kapila hermit, whose story runs as follows:

There was once a hermit who repeated this chant in a teak forest in India. As a result, the forest became a paradise. The trees took turns producing flowers and fruit throughout the year. The waters were crystal clean. Any diseased animal that happened to pass into the forest and drink the water would be completely cured of its illness. The grasses and vines were always fresh and green. Fierce animals that normally attacked and ate one another would, when entering the forest, live together in peace, as friends. Life was joyous for animals in this forest. The smell of dead animals never appeared because whenever an animal was about to die, it would have to go and die elsewhere. This forest is where the Buddha's ancestors, the Sakyan clan, later established their capital, Kapilavatthu, which still stands today within the borders of Nepal.

All of this was due to the sacred power of the chant repeated by the Kapila hermit. And this is how he did it: First, he faced the east and repeated the chant day and night for seven days; the second week, he faced north; the third week, south; and the fourth week, west. The fifth week, he looked down toward the earth; the sixth week, he raised his hands and lifted his face to the sky, made his heart clear, and focused on the stars as the object of his meditation. The seventh week, he practiced breath meditation, keeping his breath in mind and letting it spread out in every direction through the power of a mind infused with the four Sublime Attitudes: good will, compassion, appreciation, and equanimity. Thus the chant was named the Divine Mantra.

When all of this was related to me while I was in India, I couldn't help thinking of the Buddha, who was pure by virtue of the peerless quality of his heart to the point where he was able to invest the elements in his body with power, making them more pure than any other elements in the world. His relics, for example, have appeared to those devoted to him and, I have heard, come and go on their own, which is very strange indeed.

All of these things are accomplished through the power of a pure heart. When the heart is pure, the elements also become pure as a result. When these elements exist in the world, they can have a refreshing influence on the environment — because all elements are interrelated. If we Buddhists set our minds on training ourselves in this direction, we can be a powerful influence to the good in proportion to our numbers. But if we don't train ourselves and instead run about filling ourselves with evil, our hearts are bound to become hot and disturbed. The flames in our hearts are bound to set the elements in our bodies on fire, and the heat from these inner fires is certain to spread in all directions throughout the world.

As this heat gathers and becomes greater, it will raise temperatures in the atmosphere around the world. The heat from the sun will become fiercer. Weather will become abnormal. The seasons, for example, will deviate from their normal course. And when this happens, human life will become more and more of a hardship. The ultimate stage of this evil will be the destruction of the world by the fires at the end of the aeon, which will consume the earth.

All this from our own thoughtlessness, letting nature by and large go ahead and follow this course — which shows that we're not very rational, because everything has a reason, everything comes from a cause. The world we live in has the heart as its cause. If the heart is good, the world is sure to be good. If the heart is corrupt, the world is sure to be corrupt.

Thus, in this book I have written down the way to train the heart so as to lead to our happiness and well-being in the coming future.

Samathavipassanabhāvanavākkapprakaraṇaṃ, Dvidhāvuttakammaṭṭhāna (Pāḷi prose. Beg. Vanditvā sirasā buddhaṃ … Okāsa okāsa bho sabbaññu Gotama sitthakadīpa… The 13 ch. titles are same as in Amatākaravaṇṇanā with which it is found in the same MS bundle. Maybedvi dhā refers to the verse text followed by the prose text. Cf prec. and next entries. N 6601(85ii).

I guess so, though it also includes other modern elements. The meditation technique itself, claimed to have been "re-discovered" after it had been forgotten for a long time, would have probably just been picked up from someone who has been actually practising it (not the official Buddhism).

At a local temple they have three new buddha statues (one for each of the three seasons ...the Thai name (phra kaew sam rhedoo)for them translated into English is "Three seasons green buddhas") and they are going to have a big ceremony to "open the eyes" of these statues.....it seems that many of the local people (Buddhists) believe that with this ceremony something gets activated in the statues.......it seems that many of the local people have beliefs that are usually called "idolatry" or "idol worship".......is this tantric theravada.......are buddhists idol worshipers?From what I've been told (but might not be accurate):The ceremony evidentally includes the cooking of a large pot of sweetened rice (I think) which at first is stirred only by virgins who are instructed to think only pure thoughts while stirring....after some time the virgins are not required for stirring and other people (wearing white clothes) will continue.....the virgins (who are mostly still children) sleep while the monk chants pretty much all night until early in the morning when the virgins are awakened when they are required to portion out the first portions of the rice into plastic bags (probably traditionally banana leaf was used) and after the virgins get this process started then the people wearing white clothes finish up.......the percentage of virgins is probably too low now for them to prepare all of the sweetened rice for the community....in the old days all of the work done in preparing the rice was done by virgins.From what I've been told (again might not be accurate):If you pray to the statue before the eyes are opened nothing good can come of it but if you pray to the statue after its eyes are opened then it can bring good things to you.

Seems like this is idol worship to me.....I guess......does tantric theravada include idol worship?

chownah wrote:At a local temple they have three new buddha statues (one for each of the three seasons ...the Thai name (phra kaew sam rhedoo)for them translated into English is "Three seasons green buddhas") and they are going to have a big ceremony to "open the eyes" of these statues.....it seems that many of the local people (Buddhists) believe that with this ceremony something gets activated in the statues.......

For what it's worth, I have vague memories of reading about a similar 'opening of the eyes' ceremony in Sri Lanka. Not especially the rice and the virgins, but the belief that the statue had no power or was not 'real' until the eyes were ritually opened.A quick internet search didn't find it for me but maybe I'll remember more details ...

Anything to do with Buddha pouring or casting ceremonies involves a lot of "tantric" magic. Below you can see Reusi Kesa-kaew, a well-known rishi with long hair who gets invited to some forest monasteries as well and has a bodhisattva reputation, presiding over such a ceremony together with a monk:

Base on the northern Buddhist texts, there were so called "Naga Samadhi" meditation state claims to enter such of deep concentration(The practitioner's body will have changed to a Naga form, and then hide into a deep cave to keep its longevity before the occurrence of Metteya Buddha, the future Buddha)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai#Phra ... SangkachaiOne tale relates that he was so handsome that once even a man wanted him for a wife. To avoid a similar situation, Phra Sangkadchai decided to transform himself into a fat monk. Another tale says he was so attractive that angels and men often compared him with the Buddha. He considered this inappropriate, so disguised himself in an unpleasantly fat body.

Bhikkhus, if you develop and make much this one thing, it invariably leads to weariness, cessation, appeasement, realization and extinction. What is it? It is recollecting the Enlightened One. If this single thing is recollected and made much, it invariably leads to weariness, cessation, appeasement, realization and extinction.Anguttara-Nikaya: Ekanipata: Ekadhammapali: PañhamavaggaBuddhanussatiSCVSMVMMBS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai#Phra ... SangkachaiOne tale relates that he was so handsome that once even a man wanted him for a wife. To avoid a similar situation, Phra Sangkadchai decided to transform himself into a fat monk. Another tale says he was so attractive that angels and men often compared him with the Buddha. He considered this inappropriate, so disguised himself in an unpleasantly fat body.

Ok...thanks. Nothing tantric about him I guess. I thought he looked like the Tibetan Dzambala.

And in this chant the sacred syllable OM (AUM -- Arahato... Uttamadhammassa... Mahasanghassa...) also appears:

The Homage Octet

Homage to the Great Seer, the Worthy One, Rightly Self-awakened. Homage to the highest Dhamma, well-taught by him here. And homage to the Great Sangha, pure in virtue & view. Homage to the Triple Gem beginning auspiciously with AUM. And homage to those three objects that have left base things behind. By the potency of this homage, may misfortunes disappear. By the potency of this homage, may there always be well-being. By the power of this homage, may success in this ceremony be mine.

Namo arahato sammā-Sambuddhassa mahesinoHomage to the Great Seer, the Worthy One, Rightly Self-awakened.

Namo uttama-dhammassaSvākkhātasseva tenidhaHomage to the highest Dhamma, well-taught by him here.

Namo mahā-saṅghassāpiVisuddha-sīla-diṭṭhinoAnd homage to the Great Sangha, pure in virtue & view.

Through the power of the 32 marks of the Great Man belonging to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Rightly Self-awakened One, who through his accumulation of merit is endowed with glory, steadfastness of intent, majesty, victorious power, great might, countless great virtues, who settles all dangers & obstacles,

asītyānubyañjan'ānubhāvenathrough the power of his 80 minor characteristics,

aṭṭh'uttara-sata-maṅgal'ānubhāvenathrough the power of his 108 blessings,

chabbaṇṇa-raṃsiy'ānubhāvena ketumāl'ānubhāvenathrough the power of his sixfold radiance,through the power of the aura surrounding his head,

dasa-pāramit'ānubhāvenadasa-upapāramit'ānubhāvenadasa-paramattha-pāramit'ānubhāvenathrough the power of his ten perfections, ten higher perfections,& ten ultimate perfections,

sīla-samādhi-paññ'ānubhāvenathrough the power of his virtue, concentration, & discernment,

buddh'ānubhāvena dhamm'ānubhāvena saṅgh'ānubhāvenathrough the power of the Buddha, Dhamma, & Saṅgha,

tej'ānubhāvena iddh'ānubhāvena bal'ānubhāvenathrough the power of his majesty, might, & strength,

ñeyya-dhamm'ānubhāvenathrough the power of the Dhammas that can be known,

caturāsīti-sahassa-dhammakkhandh'ānubhāvenathrough the power of the 84,000 divisions of the Dhamma,

nava-lokuttara-dhamm'ānubhāvenathrough the power of the nine transcendent Dhammas,

aṭṭhaṅgika-magg'ānubhāvenathrough the power of the eightfold path,

aṭṭha-samāpattiy'ānubhāvenathrough the power of his eight meditative attainments,

chaḷabhiññ'ānubhāvena catu-sacca-ñāṇ'ānubhāvenathrough the power of his six cognitive skills,through the power of his knowledge of the four noble truths,

dasa-bala-ñāṇ'ānubhāvenathrough the power of his knowledge of the ten strengths,

sabbaññuta-ñāṇ'ānubhāvenathrough the power of his omniscience,

mettā-karuṇā-muditā-upekkh'ānubhāvenathrough the power of his good will, compassion, appreciation, & equanimity,

sabba-paritt'ānubhāvenathrough the power of all protective chants,

ratanattaya-saraṇ'ānubhāvenathrough the power of refuge in the Triple Gem:

Ākāsa-pabbata-vana-bhūmi-gaṅgā-mahāsamuddāārakkhakā devatā sadā tumhe,anurakkhantu.May the protective devas of the sky, the mountains, the forests, the land, the River Ganges, & the great ocean always protect you.

Bhavatu sabba-maṅgalaṃRakkhantu sabba-devatāMay there be every blessing. May all heavenly beings protect you.

Sabba-buddhānubhāvenaSadā sotthī bhavantu te.Through the power of all the Buddhas, may you always be well.

Bhavatu sabba-maṅgalaṃRakkhantu sabba-devatāMay there be every blessing. May all heavenly beings protect you.

Sabba-dhammānubhāvenaSadā sotthī bhavantu te.Through the power of all the Dhammas, may you always be well.

Bhavatu sabba-maṅgalaṃRakkhantu sabba-devatāMay there be every blessing. May all heavenly beings protect you.

Sabba-saṅghānubhāvenaSadā sotthī bhavantu te.Through the power of all the Saṅghas, may you always be well.